puzzlesfandomcom-20200214-history
Help:FAQ
This section and its sub-sections are currently managed by Sorceror Nobody. If something is not explained to a satisfactory degree (or not at all), please contact him on his Talk page. However, feel free to correct typos, should you find any. Adding to the Wiki How do I make an article? Simply type the title (note that it's case sensitive apart from the very first letter) in the search line and press the "Go" button. If the title doesn't already exist, you will be prompted with the following message: :There is no page titled "". You can create this page. Now simply press the red link that appears, which will direct you to an empty page with the title you searched for and you will be free to start the article. But please be so kind as to make a search (by pressing the "Search" button) before starting an article, just in case we might have missed a redirect or if what you are about to create is already a section in an existing article. What should or should not be added? If you have any doubts about if a piece of information you have should or shouldn't be added to the Wiki, just add it. Until this wiki gets bigger, it's not a big deal if a little info is added that needs removing. Just use common sense. Even if it's a bit crude, add it to the article. Any users that check the ' ' page can find your edit and will be able to smooth the information out, and if the information is wrong, it will be removed, no harm done. We encourage trying, rather than punish failing, and the only time anyone is ever punished for editing is if the edit is clearly vandalism (e.g. blanking pages or adding nonsense). Why can't I say that something is Roxxor/Suxxor? Because all articles are to remain as objective as possible. If they weren't objective, it would be a constant edit war between the lovers and haters, and we prefer to avoid that. However, you are completely free to write whatever you wish on your Userpage. Any specifics on what should be on a page? There are a few guidelines, referred to as the Manual of Style. But if you don't have all the specifics, don't worry about it. Just add what you do have and stick the Expand template at the top of the article. You do this simply by writing at the top. I saw a good article on Wikipedia, can I dump it here? We try to avoid copy/pasting from external sources, as we find it somewhat easier to start from scratch so that we are less influenced by the setup of other people and are able to write more specific and satisfying material. But if you absolutely have no other choice, then make sure to add the De-Wikification template at the top of the article, so that other users are aware of it being dumped from somewhere else. You do this simply by writing at the top of the page. What should I do if I come across a poorly written article? There are two options. You can either re-write the article to the best of your abilities, or if you don't have any knowledge of the subject of the article, you can simply stick the Cleanup template at the top of the article instead. This is used to show that it needs some tender love and care, and you can add it by writing at the top of the article. Spamming the recent changes list To avoid spamming the ' ' list, use the button called Show preview (it's right next to the Save page button) to make sure that all the links, templates, tables, etc. you have are working properly. Making dozens of minor edits on the same page at 30-second intervals, because something didn't work and you're "trying again", is annoying to other users and also makes vandals harder to catch. If they vandalize a page in-between a dozen minor edits, made by someone who didn't bother with Show preview, it makes the vanbdalism hard to pick out. Of course, slip-ups, typos, etc. occur and it's perfectly understandable if someone misses it the first time around and fixing those will not be considered spamming the list. This also applies for Templates, as the effects of changes to the template has had on articles it is included in can only be seen after the page has been saved. I'm bored... have you got any articles I could make or expand? Well, if you don't know what to do, the absolute best place to check out would be the To-Do List. There, you can see a list of the most important things that need doing. This can include finding images, finishing articles, making templates... you name it. For minor article expansion not noted in the to-do list, you can check out the Articles to be Expanded or the Stubs. Userpages Userpages are personal pages which are accessible when you create an account. It is also this page that will be linked to whenever you sign a comment by using four tildes, i.e. ~~~~. It is not required that you make a userpage, but it is somewhat advised that you take the time to drop a line or two about yourself. Objectivity On your own personal userpage, you get to throw objectivity out the window. Write about anything you wish. About yourself, about what you like, what you don't like, why something is better than something else and so on. Go nuts with it. The only thing we don't accept are comments that are directly insulting to a specific person or a group of people, i.e. racist comments, insults to people's religion, etc. So please use common sense when it comes to that. Userboxes "A picture says more than a thousand words", and a Userbox says at least 10 or 15. Userboxes are quick and simple ways to get a point across, as most users will start off by looking at the userboxes to get information about someone. Next to the userbox is a code, which must be inserted between a set of curly brackets (since they are just templates). For instance, for the User cube userbox. It is generally advised that they be put in a table because it's neater, and also because useboxes aren't always the same size, which can cause alignment problems if not in a table. The correct way to do this is shown below, using six of the same userboxes. The results can be seen on the right, the actual setup on the left: |} However, if you have your userboxes in a section on its own, changing style="float:right" to align="center" is advised. For more advice on how to make a userpage, go ' '. Talk Bubbles } :|text= } :}} Save this, and in the future you will only need to do " " in order to have a neat little talk template. The two things you will want to be mindful of is that you need to fill out all blanks, you need to leave time and text as variables (surrounded by " }") and you do not want to include "File:" in front of your image name. If you want a more advanced text box, like most people opt for, look at this. There are more variables than the mandatory three (image is optional) shown above. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a message on my talk page and I will try to respond as quickly as possible. Also, if you're a beginner, I suggest you don't try imitating my template (Template:SNTalk) as it's fully coded instead of being derived through Template:Talk. }} ;Summary #Create your talk template the same way you create an article: by typing, without quotation marks, "Template:your talk template name" in the Search box. Press Go, then click on the red link of the "You can create this page" up there. We advise you to choose a short name for your talk template. #Copy the coding of the talk template you wish to follow and paste it into your empty talk template page. #Fill out the coding after the "=" signs accordingly, but leave the "time= }" and "text= }" parameters alone. #Save, and you are now ready to use it. Just type this to leave your message: As a side note, if you want to make a Talk Bubble with a dark background, please use extremely light font. White works best. If you use a dark or even medium font on a dark background, nobody will be able to read your words without highlighting them. You are only allowed to create one talk template per user. Though you are allowed more, you must host these in userspace, or in walkthrough space if you want to use one just for your walkthrough. Hosting a template in userspace works the same as template space, to use it, you would have to type " ". You are also allowed to use multiple talkboxes in one template using choose/option or . For help creating one of these, leave a message here. Signatures There is also the option of signatures. You should be aware that typing four tildes (~~~~) signs with your username and a timestamp, but you can also customise your signature with fonts etc. For example, . Note that only Staff are permitted to create a mainspace template for their sig, although anyone can create userspace ones. Images Personal Images (generally for userpage-usage) Due to copyright restrictions, personal images cannot be uploaded to the wiki unless you have obtained permission from the creator to use it. Obviously, if you made it then you automatically have permission from yourself! If your image does not meet this restriction, it will be deleted. Consider uploading it to an external hosting website, such as Photobucket, and link to it from there. Before uploading The most important things to do before uploading are: #To perform a search (enter a keyword and click "search"). Make sure that categories and images are part of your searching criteria. These can be marked either every time you search at the bottom of the search page, or by default in your (this latter option requires that you have a registered account). #To check Category:Images. There will be subcategories leading to a specific puzzle type, e.g. Logic Puzzles, and there may be other relevant subcategories too. It is important to do this, because we really don't want to end up with several duplicate copies of the same image taking up space, not least because then we have to do something about them as well. During (or after) uploading When uploading the image, write Category:?? Puzzle Images (replacing the "??" with the type of puzzle the image relates to e.g. Logic or Mechanical) in the "Summary" box to make sure the image is categorized, e.g. Category:Logic Puzzle Images (it's case-sensitive). To check the titles to use, see the sub-categories of Category:Images. If you forget to add the category during upload, please be so kind as to click the "edit" tab and add it. How to upload New uploads On the left side of your browser, you will see a box named "Toolbox" with a link called "' '". Click the button next to the empty space. The name of it changes to fit the language setup of the computer (For English-speakers, it's called "Browse..."). Then simply locate the file on your computer and upload it. The upload page lists the available formats. Over pre-existing images First and foremost, the only times you may upload over an existing image is if the image you wish to upload is either of better quality or a more reasonable size of the exact same motif. In other words, it's the same picture, but an improved version of the file. If the image fits these criteria, here's what you do: :Go to the existing image, e.g. Image:Hashi.PNG. At the bottom will be a link called "Upload a new version of this file". Click it. The Destination filename will already be filled out; do not change it. Select the image you want to upload and make sure it has the same extension as the existing image, i.e., if the existing image is .jpg, your image has to be .jpg as well. When you have selected the image you want to upload, click the upload button. You should now get a warning message saying that a file of this name already exists; ignore it and click Save file. After a minute or two, the change will be visible. Naming It is absolutely vital that you give an image a name that makes sense! This is because images cannot be moved/renamed. So once you've found the file you wish to upload, using the "Browse..." function, the destination filename will automatically be the same as the filename on your computer. You can manually change this. Giving it a good name will help reduce duplicate images and makes it easier to find, should you forget its name (as it will pop up during searches). Example of a good name would be the before-mentioned Image:Hashi.PNG. You can tell from its name that it is an image of a Hashi puzzle. An example of a bad name would be "Image:128ad5.gif", because you would have no idea what it was a picture of unless you actually viewed it. The sole exception for this rule applies to images not to be used in articles, e.g. wallpapers or userimages. However, as a common courtesy, it should be mentioned in the description what it is for, and it really doesn't hurt to give it a sensible name anyway. But most importantly, never EVER include a + in the name, because this will make it impossible for anyone to access the image. How to insert in pages For help on how to insert images properly into articles, please go to . Category:Help Pages